Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mehmood Qureshi has categorically condemned Indian involvement in sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan, specifically referring to the recent Johar Town Blast.
He said that the country has been financing terrorists to disturb the peace in Pakistan.
Talking to a private channel the foreign minister said that Pakistan had time and again raised the issue of state-sponsored terrorism by India, but the information was not treated seriously by the international community.
He said that given the clear-cut evidence of India’s involvement in terror financing, it is the duty of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as a financial watchdog to question why India is backing terrorist activities in Pakistan.
“If [FATF] doesn’t bring India to task, then it shows its double standards, and Pakistan has a right to raise an objection regarding these double standards,” said Mr. Qureshi.
He reiterated that it is Pakistan’s right to raise a voice against such double standards. If FATF did not take any notice of India’s financing of terrorism, then it would appear that the forum is a political forum and not a technical one.
Qureshi lauded the efforts of the investigation agencies, counter-terrorism department, agencies, and Punjab police for showing their professionalism in unearthing the elements involved in the heinous Johar Town blast.
The world was provided with evidence over Indian training of terrorists and supply of weapons, besides its terror financing, he added.
The foreign minister said they had sent a dossier of evidence to the United Nations, ambassadors of P-5 countries, the diplomatic community, and media.
It is worth mentioning that after the June plenary of the inter-governmental organization, Pakistan was retained on the grey list despite FATF itself recognizing that fact that Pakistan had completed its due progress on all, but one point.
Announcing the decision in a virtual press conference after the financial watchdog’s five-day plenary meeting, FATF President Dr. Marcus Pleyer said, “Pakistan has made significant progress and it has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on the action plan it first committed to in June 2018.”
Following that, the government and various political analysts have termed FATF as a “political organization”, keeping in mind the recent Uranium controversy in India being ignored by the international community and IGOs.
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Dr. Moeed Yusuf’s press conference
Earlier on Sunday, the Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security Moeed Yusuf informed in a press conference that the evidence gathered in the investigation of the recent blast in Lahore clearly points to “Indian-sponsored terrorism”.
Speaking alongside the Punjab police chief Inam Ghani and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Dr. Yusuf said the mastermind of the attack “is an Indian citizen and he is associated with [Indian intelligence agency] RAW.”
“Through forensic analysis, electronic equipment which has been recovered from these terrorists, we have identified the main mastermind and the handlers of this terrorist attack, and we have absolutely no doubt or reservation in informing you that the main mastermind belongs to RAW, the Indian intelligence agency, is an Indian national, and is based in India,” he added.
Drawing attention to the recent report by EU DisinfoLab, Yusaf said “hundreds and thousands of fake outlets were being used to malign Pakistan, to spread misinformation about Pakistan, and to hide what is actually a clear terrorist sponsorship by a state against another state in our region”.
He revealed that the main suspect of the attack, Eid Gul, was originally from Afghanistan and had lived in Pakistan. “This is that thing which we repeatedly say that Afghan refugees are our brothers and sisters, but the time has come for their dignified return,” he said.
Dr. Yusuf said, “We have identified the main mastermind and the handlers of this terrorist attack and we have no doubt in informing you that the main mastermind belongs to RAW, lives in India, and is an Indian citizen.”
Adding that “there is also evidence of thousands of attempts of cyber-attacks against our critical investigative infrastructure right after this attack on the 23rd in Lahore”.
Dr. Yusuf claimed that all the suspects in Pakistan have been arrested.
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